Social historians not only sought to enlarge the study of history but to refocus it on the experiences of common people rather than institutions or elites.
[2] Social history also took root at the same time that American organized labor began to decline.
[3] European and American critics of the "new labor history" charge that historians now neglect institutions and elites.
They argue that labor leaders and unions shape workers' goals and values as much as reflect them.
They also point out that the "new labor history" has a tendency to ignore larger cultural trends and movements and technological developments which operate on a more systemic level than the individual.